Sabbatical Leave Proposal and Report

I am requesting one full semester ( either Fall 2004 or Spring 2005). I propose to write at ~ least eight (ideally, twelve) essays on Shakespeare plays that are currently popular for teaching, as well as writing a draft of a synthesizing commentary that explains the overall I approach around which my essays cohere. This process of pulling together the essays would include drawing from the copious notes I have amassed during my sixteen semesters of teaching and passionately studying Shakespeare; reviewing a wide range of resources that I already have at my disposal; spending time at the University of Illinois library (including the Rare Books Room) reading, as needed, its comprehensive collection of works that served as Shakespeare\u27s primary sources; visiting the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (with which I am familiar, as I have brought over two hundred Parkland students there); attending other Shakespeare performances; and seeking feedback on my emerging essays from professors with whom I have studied

An empirical study of stressors, consequences and outcomes among a group of hospitality workers in the Western Cape

Word processed copy.Includes bibliographical references.Stress in the South African hospitality industry is an important but neglected topic in the stress literature. This research report investigates the stressors affecting hospitality workers, the consequences of stress amongst hospitality workers and the coping mechanisms that they employ to deal with these stressors

Risky writing: Working with a heteroglossic pedagogy to deepen pre-service teachers’ learning

This article explores how course design and assessment in a first year pre-service teacher education course for English students can be imbued with academic depth and rigour in ways that enable  students to take intellectual and textual risks. We argue for a conceptualisation of risky writing in which we open up student critical engagement with sociolinguistic issues by juxtaposing academic and creative genres in curriculum course material and assessment. Academic writing in its current form is problematised and questions are raised about the extent to which academic courses provide students with an apprenticeship into compliance, conformity and silence. We present the possibilities of using a heteroglossic pedagogy (Blackledge & Creese, 2014) for learning, teaching and writing. The principles underpinning the course (linguistic diversity as a resource, the value of lived experience and the interrelation of epistemological access and academic rigour) constitute a heteroglossic pedagogy. We illustrate these principles using two examples, one from student performance during the course and the second from independent writing for an assignment. Together, the two data snapshots illustrate the pedagogic possibilities of fluid movements between distantiation and appropriation using flexible genres, which ultimately facilitate deeper student engagement and understanding of disciplinary knowledge. The two data snapshots are not “mere descriptions or anecdotes” detached from principles (Slonimsky & Shalem, 2004: 92). They facilitate academic depth and rigour because of the carefully staged moves between the strange and the familiar in a context that encourages students to take creative and intellectual risks

Case Report of Dramatic Resolution of Psychotic Symptoms During Cross-Over to Clozapine

Clozapine is the first antipsychotic drug with proven superiority over conventional antipsychotics in the management of treatment-resistant patients. We describe a case of tratment-resistant schizoaffective disorder in a young woman who improved rapidly on clozapine. The patient was started on a low dose of clozapine while fluphenazine was decreased. She improved significantly during the first several days of treatment. This improvement took place well before the expected effect of clozapine. Possible explanations for this unusual response include: 1) the placebo effect; 2) fluphenazine dose-response curve; 3) acute clozapine neurochemical mechanisms; 4) inaccurate original diagnosis. Better understanding of the mechanisms of action of antipsychotic drugs may considerably improve patient care

The elusiveness of imagination : a case study of five teachers' conceptions and enactments of imaginative writing pedagogies in Gauteng classrooms.

This thesis explores the relationship between teachers’ conceptions of imagination and imaginative writing and how they enact these ideas in the classroom. The three primary research questions are (1) how do teachers conceptualise the imagination and imaginative writing? (2) how are these ideas and beliefs enacted through classroom writing practices? (3) what is the relationship between teachers’ conceptions of imaginative writing and their enactment of imaginative writing pedagogy in the classroom? I argue that imagination and imaginative writing have been sidelined in South African educational discourses and that a narrow view of imagination prevails. Drawing on Vygotsky’s work on imagination, writing pedagogy theorists and philosophical ideas, I argue for a nuanced model of imaginative writing which synthesises higher-level thinking, affect and creativity. This study uses a multiple case study methodology. In order to answer the first research question, I conducted in-depth interviews with five intermediate phase teachers. I then observed their English classes, two weeks per teacher, to gain insights into the second and third research questions. I also gathered and analysed samples of learners’ writing to explore the impact of teachers’ pedagogies on learners’ writing. Thus, enactment of imaginative writing pedagogies is explored from various angles. The findings suggest that there is a complex relationship between teachers’ personal writing histories, their conceptions of imaginative writing and classroom practice. One of the central findings of this thesis is that teachers’ personal writing practices have less of an impact on their imaginative writing pedagogy than one would expect. Teachers’ conceptualisations of imagination and their related beliefs and attitudes have a more significant impact on their pedagogy than their personal writing practices. However, values and beliefs that embrace imaginative writing, while a necessary precondition for productive practice, are not necessarily enough. These need to be coupled with a well-developed pedagogy and implemented in institutional contexts that are conducive to imaginative writing. Teachers draw on a range of different discourses to construct their ideas about imaginative writing and their practice. While the discourses articulated in the interviews were iii significant, at times there were tensions between teachers’ espoused and enacted practice and in some instances contradictory discourses operating in the interview and in their classrooms. The findings of this thesis highlight the importance of key elements of practice working together, pulling in the same direction and being framed by reinforcing discourses. At times all five teachers drew on imaginative discourses (i.e. discourses that value imaginative writing and thinking, and that regard it as central to learning), and strove to promote imaginative writing. However, the ultimate effectiveness of this was largely determined by the manner in which imaginative discourses were sustained and integrated with other discourses

Pharmacologic Management of Aggression in Adults with Intellectual Disability

Introduction: Aggression is a common behavioral problem seen in patients with intellectual disabilities (ID). The safety and efficacy of second generation antipsychotics (SGAs), mood stabilizers and antidepressants in the management of aggression in these individuals have minimally been studied. This review aims to 1) summarize the studies conducted using second generation antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and antidepressants in treating aggressive behaviors in patient with ID and 2) determine based on the existing literature, which medications have been examined in the most rigorous study design that might suggest the most efficacy for use in clinical practice.Methods: Literature searches using PUBMED Central, CINAHL Plus, PsychINFO, and Embase databases were conducted using the following terms: intellectual disability/disabilities, mental retardation, developmental disability/disabilities, aggression, agitation, behavior disorder, adult, treatment, management. Studies predominantly including children with ID, and autism/pervasive developmental disabilities spectrum disorders were excluded. Analyses were done by class of medication: SGAs, mood stabilizers and antidepressants. The primary outcome measure was reduction in aggressive or self injurious behaviors as measured by each individual study.Results: The most rigorous study designs found using these agents were randomized controlled trials (RCT). A total of 10 RCTs were found, the majority being with risperidone (3) and lithium (2). Treatment with risperidone showed reduction in aggression when compared to placebo in most RCTs with the exception of one study in which risperidone was not better than placebo. Both lithium studies showed reduction in aggression when compared to placebo. The most abundant literature exists in retrospective chart reviews. The most commonly studied agent was risperidone which showed reduction in aggression in majority of the studies.Conclusions: Limited data exists for treatment of aggression in adults with ID. There are very few studies examining pharmacologic agents using RCTs. Given that risperidone and lithium were the most commonly studied agents in the most rigorous experimental design, it is suggested that these two agents prove efficacious for treatment of aggression in patients with ID. Limitations to most of these studies included concomitant psychotropic administration with variations in types and dosing, severity of ID, and the idea that a wide variety of aggression scales were used to assess outcome. Further research with more scientific rigor is required in this field

ALGORITHMS FOR THE ALIGNMENT AND VISUALIZATION OF GENOME MAPPING DATA WITH APPLICATIONS TO STRUCTURAL VARIANT DETECTION

Optical mapping and nanocoding are single molecule restriction mapping systems for interrogating genomic structure at a scale that cannot currently be achieved using DNA sequencing methods. In these mapping experiments, large DNA molecules approximately 500 kb are stretched, immobilized or confined, and then digested with a restriction endonuclease that cuts or nicks the DNA at its cognate sequence. The cut/nick sites are then observed through fluorescent microscopy and machine vision is used to estimate the length of the DNA fragments between consecutive sites. This produces, for each molecule, a barcode-like pattern comprising the ordered list of restriction fragment lengths Despite the promise of the optical mapping and nanocoding systems, there are few open source tools for working with the data generated by these platforms. Most analyses rely on custom in-house software pipelines using proprietary software. In this dissertation we present open source software tools for the alignment and vizualization of restriction mapping data. In this work we first present a review of the optical mapping and nanocoding systems and provide an overview of the current methods for aligning and assembling consensus restriction maps and their related applications. Next, we present the Maligner software for the alignment of a query restriction pattern to a reference pattern. Alignment is a fundamental problem which is the first step in many downstream analyses, such as consensus map assembly or structural variant calling. The Maligner software features both a sensitive dynamic programming implementation and a faster but less sensitive index based mode of alignment. We compare the Maligner software to other available tools for the task of aligning a sequence contig assembly to a reference optical map and for aligning single molecule maps to a reference. Next, we present a portable data visualization web application for visualizing pairwise alignments of restriction maps. Finally, we present updates to the Maligner software to support partial alignments of single molecule maps, allowing for the clustering of compatible split map alignments to identify structural variants

Computational methods for optical mapping

Optical mapping and newer genome mapping technologies based on nicking enzymes provide low resolution but long-range genomic information. The optical mapping technique has been successfully used for assessing the quality of genome assemblies and for detecting large-scale structural variants and rearrangements that cannot be detected using current paired end sequencing protocols. Here, we review several algorithms and methods for building consensus optical maps and aligning restriction patterns to a reference map, as well as methods for using optical maps with sequence assemblies.https://doi.org/10.1186/2047-217X-3-3